Thursday, Aug. 23 | Utica, Miss. … CAPE joined forces with the Town of Utica, Friends of Utica, and Sipp Culture to gather public input as part of the Art + Exchange Story-Gathering Tour. This research serves as part of Phase 1 of a new program of place-based artist residencies that will fund community-engaged artworks across Mississippi.
Participants shared their opinions on the past, present, and future of the community. This input will be utilized in Phase 2 of the residency program, when Mississippi artists will be invited to propose specific project ideas that address narratives raised by the public.
Development and Economic Access
PAST AND PRESENT
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Our schools are an asset
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The town is small and peaceful
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Beautiful scenery
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No economic base restaurants or stores
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Trying to bring back industry
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Getting people out to vote is a challenge
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Lack of community resources, grocery stores, high school, recreational programs
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Not very much infrastructure
HOPES FOR THE FUTURE
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Grocery store
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Affordable homes, growth
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Education, highways and byways
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Interest in micro-loans for capital purchases to fund small businesses
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Creative thinking
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Leadership with collaboration
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Focus on agriculture, our roots
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Waffle House
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New infrastructure
Community Narrative
PAST AND PRESENT
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Safe, friendly, quiet, education system
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Everyone that I have met has been helpful and enthusiastic
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Cucumbers grown in the back yard and pickled with vinegar
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Welcoming
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Utica natives have great pride
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Historic
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Family is important
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Limited activities for communities to engage
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Things for the community to participate in and grow
HOPES FOR THE FUTURE
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Agency over our own story
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Creating a book on Utica history
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Community healing, art stories
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Youth: a desire to see more, have more, do more
The Arts
PAST AND PRESENT
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Home to Utica Jubilee Choir
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Too far away, not immediately connected to arts and culture; stories dying with the elders
Diversity and Equity
PAST AND PRESENT
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Still segregated
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Less resources in black parts of town
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Community violence (especially among youth)
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Poverty, essentially gentrification
